Shell drawing press



, Patented Jan. 25, 1944 SHELL DRAWING PRESS Myer N. Stadlin, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to The Baldwin Locomotive Works, a. corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 21, 1942, Serial 110.451.7021

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to presses and more particularly to shell drawing presses.

It is customary in drawing shells to have a relatively long mandrel adapted to pass the shell casing through several stages of reduction in one continuous operation. Because of the number of successive die passes and the magnitude of the operating forces involved the press is usually formed of three crossheads connected together with two separate sets of tie rods of substantial size and strength and in addition thereto it has been heretofore necessary to suitably support the usual main operating cylinder and pushback cy inders, all of which has heretofore involved considerable complications and added appreciable cost to the equipment.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved draw press that is adapted to reduce to a minimum the number of structural and operating elements, while still retaining all of the functions and advantages thereof, thereby to produce a draw press that is relatively compact and is simple and economical in construction, operation and maintenance. These advantages are of distinct value in equipment of this kind because of its extremely large size.

In accomplishing the foregoing as well as other obiects and advantages, I have provided a novel arrangement whereby certain members perform multiple functions of acting as pushback cylinders and of axially connecting a plurality of successive dies together as well as connecting the dies to the main cylinder so as to resist the drawing force of a shell while it passes through the successive reducing dies.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawing in which the figure is a diagrammatic sectional view of my improved press.

In the particular diagrammatic embodiment of the invention. I have'shown a pair of crossheads l and 2 connected by tie rods 3 and supporting, in longitudinally spaced relation, a main operating cylinder 4' and a pair of pushback cylinders 5 and B. A main ram 1 supports a draw mandrel I and also connected thereto are a pair of pushback rams 9 and Ill, these rams extending into cylinders 5 and 6. A series of successive reducling dies H to ll are connected to and specifically shown as supported upon the cylinders 5 and 6. the dies and cylinders being secured together in any suitable manner diagrammatically shown as collars I! and nuts It. Hydraulic pressure from any suitable source may be alternately supplied to the main cylinder 4 and push back cylinders 5 and 6 to move the mandrel in the direction of the pushback cylinders, preferably between the same.

In operation, a shell blank is placed on'the end of the draw mandrel 8 and pushed successively through the dies I l to II and thereafter the mandrel is withdrawn by supplying fluid pressure to pushback ram 4. The functional character of elements 5 and 6 causes these elements to be of an extremely sturdy character thereby being conliucive to the strength necessary in performing connecting and die supporting functions.

From the foregoing disclosure, it is seen that my improved press with its multiple functional aspect of certain elements provides a high degree of simplicity as well as sturdiness without in any way jeopardizing the effectiveness of the press or of impairing its drawing operations. In fact, the advantages of prior art draw presses have been fully maintained while at the same time eliminatlng many of the disadvantages thereof.

It will of course be understood that various changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A draw press having longitudinally spaced main and pushback cylinders, means for connecting said cylinders together, a main operating ram in said main cylinder, a draw mandrel connected to said main ram and movable toward said pushback cylinders during a drawing operation, pushback rams for returning said main ram and mandrel, and draw dies connected solely to said pushback cylinders so that said pushback cylinders sustain the entire drawing load on the dies during the drawing operation.

2. A draw press having a main cylinder and a plurality of pushback cylinders spaced transversely apart from each other and also spaced longitudinally from said main cylinder, means for connecting said pushback cylinders to said main cylder, a main operating ram in said main cylinder, a draw mandrel connected to said main ram and movable toward and between said pushback cylinders during a drawing operation, pushback rams for returning said main ram and mandrel, and a series of successive reducing draw die connected solely to said pushback cylinders between the same so that said pushback cylinders sustain the entire drawing load on the dies during the drawing operation.

- MYER N. STADLIN. 

